Prairie Creek below Lick Creek Water Level
Live river level, flow, historical records and forecast for Prairie Creek below Lick Creek in AB, Canada, built from official government gauge data.
- Location AB, Canada
- Watershed clearwater alta north saskatchewan
- Primary gauge 05DB005 (Water Survey of Canada)
About Prairie Creek below Lick Creek
Prairie Creek below Lick Creek is in the Clearwater (Alta.-North Saskatchewan) watershed in Alberta.
What the record shows
The station record runs for 48 years.
The high-water mark is 2.48 m (8.14 ft) in June 2022. The low-water mark is 0.98 m (3.21 ft) in March 2018. That spread matters for anyone crossing, drawing water, or setting gear: this creek has a wide range between its record ends.
The typical seasonal pattern peaks in June at 1.33 m (4.36 ft) and bottoms in March at 1.08 m (3.55 ft), for a typical annual swing of 24.7 cm (9.7 in). For a dock, culvert, or intake, that is a modest seasonal change, but it still needs to be watched.
The fastest 24-hour rise was 83.1 cm (32.7 in) in August 2016. That is a short warning window when the channel is reacting quickly. The fastest 24-hour drop was 51.1 cm (20.1 in) in June 2022, so water level can also fall hard after a surge.
The watershed
The station drains 209 km2 (80.5 sq mi) upstream of the gauge. That is the area feeding this reading, not the full watershed beyond the station.
In this part of Alberta, late-spring peaks are common in the seasonal note, and the record here does peak in June. Summer storms can also bring sharp rises, and the August 2016 jump shows that this creek can respond fast enough to matter overnight.
Reading the hero number
The hero number on this page should be read against the median for this calendar day, not just against the raw elevation. That comparison tells you whether today is running typical for this date at this station, which is more useful than a single height by itself.
With 48 years on record, that day-by-day median gives local context for fishing access, bank wetness, and small infrastructure checks. If the page shows a reading well above that median, the creek is running high for the season; if it sits well below, conditions are closer to low-water footing.
How this page is built
Readings come from official government gauges and are rolled into daily records: the daily mean, high and low for every day on record. Each calendar day gets its own baseline from the full history, so the level you see is compared against what this specific date usually looks like rather than an annual average.
How Nibi Metrics works · Water stories
Nibi Metrics - live water levels, flow, and forecasts for lakes and rivers across Canada, the US and the UK
Real-time water levels, forecasts, and alerts for lakes and rivers across Canada, the US and the UK. Built on official government data.
Nibi Metrics tracks more than 13,000 gauged lakes and rivers across Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom, reading directly from official federal monitoring networks: the Water Survey of Canada, the United States Geological Survey, Quebec's provincial hydrometric network, and the Environment Agency for England. Every number on the platform is measured, not modelled - taken from a government gauge on the water itself and compared against that location's own historical record for this exact date.
What you can see for any monitored lake or river
The level right now, in feet or metres, updated as the source agency publishes new readings - for many stations that is every five to fifteen minutes. How today compares to typical: every location carries its own typical-for-this-date band built from its historical record, so a reading is never just a number - it is above, below, or near what this water usually does on this calendar day. Which way it is moving: a measured RISING, FALLING, or STEADY verdict computed from the gauge's own recent readings, with the rate of change - the difference between a flood ending and one beginning. What comes next: level forecasts up to 72 hours ahead, driven by the gauge's recent behaviour, upstream water, and quantitative precipitation forecasts, alongside live radar, lightning, and weather for the surrounding region.
Alerts that watch the water for you
Set a threshold on any location - a level, a distance above typical, or a rate of climb - and Nibi emails or notifies you the moment the gauge crosses it. Cottagers use it for spring freshet, anglers for river conditions, marinas and municipalities for operations. The scanning runs around the clock against the same measured data shown on every page.
Where Nibi comes from
Nibi means water in Anishinaabemowin. The platform began at a family cottage on Lake Muskoka, Ontario, where the spring melt floods the shoreline most years and the only forecast was standing on the dock, looking, and guessing. It grew into an independent, member-funded platform run by Muskoka Research Inc. - no investors, no data resale, and a privacy policy shorter than most cookie banners. The core data is free for everyone, forever; paid plans add automation like multi-location alerts, deep history, and reports.
Coverage
Nibi spans the continent: every Canadian province and territory with active federal gauges - from Vancouver Island rivers to the Muskoka lakes, prairie reservoirs, and Quebec's hydrometric network - and the United States from Maine to the Texas Hill Country, the Ohio Valley, and the Pacific Northwest. Coverage grows where the water news is: when a basin floods, its gauges join the platform with their full historical records attached. Many stations report every five to fifteen minutes; most report at least hourly; every page states exactly when its gauge last spoke.
Free forever, funded by members
The core promise is simple: the water data is free, for everyone, forever. Live levels, maps, radar, and recent history never sit behind a paywall. Paid plans fund the platform by adding automation - multi-location alerts, decades of history, longer forecasts, and PDF reports - so the people who need more carry the cost for everyone who just needs to check the lake before driving up. There are no investors and no advertising deals shaping what the data says.
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